Photos from Istanbul and Safranbolu

A warning to any travellers who spend an extended amount of time in 3rd world Asia and then go to a Western city like Istanbul. The first thing you may find yourself doing is stuffing your face full of all the delicious Western food you hadn't had access to in several months. But try to hold back lest you suffer massive stomach cramps and constipation as your body can no longer digest the heavy carbs, fats, and fibers you once called your staple diet.

Once the knawing pain in my abdomen subsided, I ended up having a nice time in Turkey. There was only enough time to see two cities in the one week I spent here but it was a great start reacclimating myself to the 1st (technically 2nd?) world.

Istanbul

View of Istanbul from the Bosphorus Strait

Pier on the strait

Blue Mosque Exterior

Blue Mosque Interior - even the Muslims coming to pray will play tourist

Hagia Sophia

Arabic as art

Safranbolu (a cute little cottage town 6 hours East of Istanbul by bus)

Now I'm at the Istanbul airport about to board a flight to Sarajevo in Bosnia. I'll spend the month of May moseying up the Adriatic coast to get to Provence for that long-anticipated painting class.